A little bit of everything, just faster

nerraw1111

Thursday 10km recovery

Legs were battered after mountain race. Left calf very tight which loosened slightly.

Saturday 5km

Another recovery run. Legs still a bit sore, slowly getting back into it.

Sunday 16km 4.40min/km

First run for DCM13. Spent all day walking around so was tired starting off. Glorious weather, headed off around 7pm with a nice cool sea breeze for comfort. Left calf was tight again but nothing too bad. Out by the great south wall lighthouse. After 8km, my quads became very sore. Unusual, as quads don't get sore unless I'm racing hard and downhill. Got the 16km done with relative ease effort wise but was stiff afterwards. Conversely calf is fine!

Going to follow club marathon plan if I can, schedule allowing. Training with others might be a bit of craic and push me on.

nerraw1111

DCM week 2

Tuesday

Pyramids of 3/4/6/8/6/4/3 with one minute run recoveries rest.

First proper DCM session on Tuesday. First proper session in weeks.
Didn’t look too bad until I realised it was minutes rather than 100s
of metres.

Plan was to run it at 3.50 min/km pace, which is half marathon pace. (Which is a bit optimistic.)

First 2 reps were bang on 3.50. Started feeling tough halfway through
the six minute rep. It was hot, legs were a bit tired and doubts of the pace flooded in.

The 8 minute rep was very uncomfortable. After 4 minutes I was stuffed, pace drifted into 4min pace.

Struggled through the sixth after slowing down the recovery run to a
jog. Halfway through the sixth, I thought “almost there, next rep is just 400 metres.” Took me another minute or two to release it was 4 minutes.

Grinded the last two reps out with an average of 3.50min/km for the last three minutes which was very satisfying. Although I have since read that going too hard in intervals is counter-productive. Ho-hum.

2.50 may be a step too far but shall see. I’ve been off four week or so, so first session was always going to be hard. Very tight calf afterwards.

IMRA Sugar Loaf Wednesday

For such a short race, it’s a killer. I needed to complete this race to qualify for the league and of course the end of year prize. Also had a chance of a top 10 overall in the summer league so had to go out in order to get a decent last race score. Figured I needed to finish at least in the top 20.

The start is always crazy. It’s narrow and everyone is jockeying for position. I got into a nice position behind one of the strongest runners in the league, who starts off slowly but paces races so well. Followed into his footsteps in the early stages, careful not go off too fast.

Felt good in the early stages and was running in parts where I was walking last year. Lost a place or two heading to the rocky part of the climb where I was forced to walk. Hit the steep rocky cone and shocked to see the leader already coming down. Nuts.

Very tough climb, using my hands to pull myself up ledges and clamber over rocks etc. Made a place before reaching the summit turn around. A rather slow descent before hitting a gentler slope and make another place before the 2km dash to the finish. The terrain was a mixture of loose rock, dusty single track, and a maze of high ferns that obscured the route and ground completely.

A stone found its way into my shoe and felt like it was tearing the sole off me.

Made another place along the loose rock and nabbed another spot heading into the fern forest and the finish line. Was in a heap at the finish. Top 20 which was good enough for top 10 overall in the league.

Calf was very tight throughout the race so decided to take a couple of days out until long run tomorrow.

Good week in terms of Tuesday and the race.

nerraw1111

Almost a month since last update.

No running since Sugar Loaf where I picked up suspected stress reaction. Combination of coming back from injury to shin too quick followed by hammering the crap out of my legs on downhill at sugarloaf. 2 days later really sore shin, painful to touch. So abandoned all running till 5 days ago.

Wednesday 3km tester. Felt ok.

Thursday 5km. So far so good. Still a niggle.

Saturday 5km. Still ok.

Sunday 9km ish.

Monday 5km. Bit of speed and still ok.

Tuesday Farlek 5 mins at hm pace with 2 min active recoveries. * 6.

Decided to give the session a go. There's still a niggle but doesn't get any worse during the run. Plenty of ice massages. My thinking is that I'd still like to do marathon and this is make or break week. If I can't run the schedules this week, I'm out.

Planned to run at slower than hm pace but got into a nice group and went on feel. First rep felt great, no niggles and just brilliant to be running again. 2nd and 3rd reps felt comfortable with the pace around 3.51 min/km (6.13 mile) 4th rep legs were beginning to feel jelly like and last two were an effort but do-able.

Great session, niggle free. 10km I'm total.

Wednesday

50 mins at easy pace. Slight niggle on shin. Stuck to the grass. Very warm, last 10 mins was an effort.

So far so good. Taking a bit of risk with the leg but if pain comes again, I'll stop and least the idea of the marathon will be gone!

DogSlySmile

Unlucky with the injury, man. You had an injury about this stage last year didnt ya?

Any thoughts on doing the plod? I was hoping to reverse the nerraw/DSS finishing positions of last year but only getting back from injury myself. Might not be wise to do it, I'll see how the legs feel over the next couple of days.

nerraw1111

Yeah, almost to the day. I think it’s down to the mountain running taking its toll. Was a bit unlucky with the shin gash on the left leg which I think affected the right leg with all the limping, which now has a niggle.

Would love to the plod but the downhill is very hard on the legs, so won’t risk it. 4 miles or so of absolute hammering downhill on hard trail and tarmac.

Was still contemplating it until yesterday before deciding to give it a miss. Pity, it’s a great race. If you fancy an easy longish run (max 15 miles) around the hills instead give me a shout.

I’m about to sign up for Transvulcania. Any interest?

DogSlySmile

nerraw1111 wrote: »

I’m about to sign up for Transvulcania. Any interest?

Good man, yeah defo interested!!! I've read a lot of reports from this years race and it sounds incredible! The only problem is getting there, I remember pricing flights a few months ago and they were a ridiculous price:eek:

ThisRegard

When watching on tv a few weeks ago I was wondering what the logistics are, are there commercial flights onto the island or are you better getting a ferry from one of the more touristy ones nearby ?

DogSlySmile

Yea it seems like a bit of a headache really. Found this blog post discussing the different options for getting there (from Leeds).

None of the options seem cheap. I guess thats why the entry fee is pretty low!;)

ThisRegard

It certainly isn't easy to get to is it !

nerraw1111

Does seem like a pain in the arse. There are Aer Lingus flights to Tenerife that Tues/Thurs before the race for €229 return to Dublin and €140 from Tenerife to Las Palmas. Then add on €150 (for up to 4 people) return for trip between the airports. Probably means staying overnight in Tenerife before heading on to La Palma.

nerraw1111

Comeback attempt no. 2 (possibly 3.)

Stress fracture of the shin diagnosed over a month ago. Near enough the ankle. It was sore to even walk on for a bit. The gamble of trying to make DCM, predictably didn't pay off and perhaps turning stress reaction into a fracture.

Anyway, several physio sessions later, no running for four/five weeks,
lots of strenghtening exercises
and finally got the nod to run last week. I was perhaps unlucky to pick it up. Stitches in the left shin pushed more load onto the right injured leg.

Started off running 10 mins, adding 2 mins each day. Up to 22 mins now. Still have the odd niggle but so far so good.

Slow process

nerraw1111

And back to square one. This is getting frustrating. About 8 minutes into 24 minute, shin got sore again. Couldn’t tell if it was my calf that was tight or the shin. Then shin, close to the ankle, became a bit sore to touch. Back to physio who recommended taking a few days off and start back at 15 minutes. But that seems a bit too soon to me.

Trouble is, hard to tell if the shin is sore, phantom pains, just a bit stiff, niggles from not running for nigh on two months, or if the shin is just ‘uncomfortable’ rather than sore and to push on through the discomfort. I’ve been reading that people ‘feel’ stress fractures up to 6 months after they’ve started back running. Ho hum.

PaulieYifter

Sorry to hear this.

I see you've been getting some advice from the Cru google group.
If it was me I'd be off to get an MRI to find out what the story is. Euromedic in Santry will take a referral from your physio or doctor - it costs c. €200 but if referred by doc its covered by most VHI plans. You can usually get booked in next day and will have the results the same day or a day later.

That should tell you whether you've got sore shins or a stress reaction or a bone bruise or a stress fracture - whatever. It means though you can put in place whatever rehab is needed and depending where the problem is on the shin spectrum you won't be as anxious about whether you're making things better or worse.

I was convinced I had a stress fracture from Dr. Google analysis - went off for an MRI and I hadn't. 3 weeks later I was running again with a bit of soreness but the fact that I knew I didn't have a stress fracture meant it didn't bother me as much.

I'm no expert but that's just my experience FWIW.

nerraw1111

Cheers Paulie. Yeah I’ll think I’ll go down the MRI route if things don’t improve. That’s a good idea.

Or maybe I should just get it done now. Peace of mind and all that, albeit an expensive one.

Plan was to rest until next weekend, which will give be around 8 weeks of non-running (excluding the 5 days of short running I did 2 weeks ago) Physio suggested running last week but I feel it’s too soon. Due to go back in 10 day or so to see how the leg is and whether to go down the mri route.

Doing mountain biking etc instead so it’s not too bad but with the shorter evenings, means it’s harder to get out.

Micilin Muc

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Doing mountain biking etc instead so it’s not too bad but with the shorter evenings, means it’s harder to get out.

Headtorches FTW!

nerraw1111

Take 473

Shin pain eventually dissipated, eventually disappearing. Back to 15 min run on grass. All good.

Done 8 runs since on grass, building up every 2 mins and now up to around 7km, all pain free. No issues. Running 2 days on, one day off. Very slow progress but there is a chink of a light on the horizon. Super run in Phoenix park at weekend.

Still doing the strengthening exercises and overhauled the diet too. Plenty of cycling but bit of an effort with the darker evenings. So hopefully the pain stays away. I've a brand new pair of racing flats that I've been using as slippers. Haven't had a chance to use them!

nerraw1111

Wednesday 32 minutes 6.8km.

Lovely autumnal evening. 45 seconds later, a downpour started so ran back to my car for a rain jacket. Torrential rain for the next 25 minutes. Was enjoyable though, 1400 metre laps on a trail around a park.

Thursday 34 mins 8km 4.20km/min pace

Getting a bit bored of the same park but it’s the closest piece of green where I can run on grass without having to travel too far. Tarmac is like kryptonite to me. I find myself stuttering when crossing footpaths, making sure to hit the path with my ‘good’ leg!

Started off fast enough, feeling fresh. The pace was comfortable so decided to keep the pace rather than slow it down a bit. Laps ticked my nicely. After 20 mins, I felt I was running for a long time and was beginning to feel it. Eventually finished in the dark, feeling like I had done a decent run for the first time since June. Felt no niggles or pain in the shin for the whole run.
Legs felt a bit tired this morning so day off today before a slow 36 mins on Saturday. I think once I get to 40 mins/10km, I can add 5 mins on rather than 2 mins.

nerraw1111

Saturday 36 mins

Endless grassy laps, careful to avoid tripping in the dark. Feeling good.

Sunday

39 mins (8.5km), avg pace of 4.36 min/km 39 mins 4.25 fastest km.

Found myself in the unfamiliar environs of Tymon park. Endless grass! V enjoyable run, misjudged the distance so upped the pace to finish around 38 mins. All good.

Monday

Core work and leg strength work, lunges, squats and so on. Ends up being a good 30 min work out.

Tuesday 41 mins (8.79km) avg pace 4.41km

Finally starting to feel like I'm back running. V refreshing to run in the rain and feel the kms tick by. Leg feeling fine.

Starting to turn my attentions to next year. I've already entered a 50 mile trail race next July and training for that brings exciting possibilities of routes all over wicklow and around.

nerraw1111

Wednesday 9.38km 4.49 min/km pace

Friday 10.5km 4.46 pace

Sunday 11.8km 4.39 pace

40km for the week.

Delighted with that, all pain free. Most of the runs are on grass, slowly introducing paths etc. Sunday was about 5km of path/road.


Tuesday 4 * 1km reps

Spent about three hours standing at the 40km point of the marathon. Was great craic. Bumped into people from the club so we created a mini tunnel of sound. My leg was a bit sore from all the standing though.

Going to be careful building mileage so decided for a short fast session. 1km intervals at whatever felt fast with 2min rest. A bit tricky doing it in the dark on grass.

Reps were 3.41, 3.35, 3.41 and 3.40. Felt good and was far from all out so pleased with the times. Probably aim for 45km week.

PaulieYifter

I was there as well in my Boston Marathon jacket - if I'd recognised/known you I'd have said hello - the Cru tunnel of noise

Glad to hear you're on the mend

nerraw1111

PaulieYifter wrote: »

I was there as well in my Boston Marathon jacket - if I'd recognised/known you I'd have said hello - the Cru tunnel of noise

Glad to hear you're on the mend

Ah I did clock the Boston jacket. Very nice jacket. I just randomly bumped into the gang there. Great craic.

nerraw1111

6km 4.30min/km.

Mixture of path and grass. Leg still a bit sore from standing around but not sore to run or walk on. Run felt fine.

Thursday 400 metre reps

First track session in months. Three sets of 4 * 400s. Felt tough from the start. Sat at the back of the group, hitting laps of around 82/85s. I was barely hanging on to the group, nearly losing touch. Managed to finish the session with the group. I'm not too far off where I was earlier this year but wrecked. Leg held up.

nerraw1111

Tuesday 6 * 800 metres off 90 secs 8km total.

Reps:.2.48, 2.43, 2.47, 2.44, 2.47, 2.43

No running at weekend. Staying on safe side and not overdoing it. Plus was away for it. Tough track session but a good group of runners. Took turns leading reps out. I did the 5th, pressure not to go too fast/slow. Last rep was all out, fast as you can!

Wednesday 8 km recovery. Handy enough run. Legs felt tired.

Thursday 3 * 1 mile off 90 secs. 8km total

Very tough. Hanging on for most of it. First felt ok, around 6.08 I think. Within 400 metres of second, my legs were beginning to complain. Recovery felt too short heading into last one. Jelly legs afterwards but managed to hold on.

Monday 18 km hill run. (Only planned about 14km)

Headed to Glendalough for first hill run in months. Plan was to go up Spinc, along boardwalk and go left and up Mullacor and Derrybawn. Fantastic day. Had raincoat and food packed in a bumbag. As soon as got to the ridge of the Spinc, the weather turned and had to put the jacket on. Cloud would drift in and reduce visibility to about 100 metres. Eventually cleared going up Mullacor for some great views. From here on in, it was lovely running. Wet but not too muddy. Banged my ankle after slipping when touching a cairn. Supposed to be good luck! Wind kicked up at Derrybawn. Plan was to head direct back down to upper lake but spied a trail to the right that looked like it'd bring back to first car park. Ended going way right and adding about 4 km on. Balls. Still hugely enjoyable but wasn't planning such a long run. Was out for over 2 hours. Super route though.

42km for the week.

nerraw1111

Tuesday 8 * 600 metres. 8km in total.

On the track. Tough going. Group managed to hit 2 min 03 reps 6 times in a row. Great even reps. Last one was 2 mins.

Wednesday 6km recovery

Legs v tight, tender achilles. 20 mins core. Left runners in work so broke in my expensive slippers, Asics DS Racers. Bought them just before injury and been wearing them as slippers since. They felt great on. More comfortable than my ds trainers. Luckily, I picked up a pair of Adidas adizero tempo for €30 to use as slippers for a while.

First bit of core in a couple of weeks that evening.

Thursday 12km 4.50 min/km pace.

Still tender achilles so gave intervals a miss. GAA had their floodlights so was able to do most of the run on grass. Aiming for around a 50km week and get back into a routine.

nerraw1111

Saturday 10.5km easy

Phoenix Park trails. Enjoyable run. Trails were firm enough, friendly motorists waving runners through junctions. A few 4.30 min/kms before picking the pace up for a last 4.06 min/km.

Monday 14km 1 hour 40. About 400 metre of climb

Ticknock/Tibradden.
A v handy run around the trails. Straight up Boneshaker, over Fairy Castle and towards Tibradden. Decided to search for the trail that brings you around the back of Tibradden rather than the purpose built trail. I’ve seen it on maps but never ran it.

The trail was very narrow and the bushes/shrubs were scrapping my legs. Eventually opened up and the running was wet and sloppy. The trail seemed to disappear completely at one stage and I ended up more or less bush whacking. A quick check of View ranger suggested I was somehow on the wrong ‘trail.’ Ducked under a fence and eventually found the trail again and soon came back to the main trail. Still narrow in places and water logged.
Headed back up Fairycastle. Some great views. Weather was v changeable. Went from low cloudy and misty, to blue skies and views of the Sugar Loaf before the cloud descended again. From Fairycastle, headed south west to loop around again.
Enjoyable run, got a bit nippy towards the end. It’d make a great night-time run if anyone is interested.


Total for week 52km-ish

nerraw1111

Tuesday 8 * 600 metres rep, jog recovery.

Tough session. Only one other person for company. Not sure if it was the slight wind/no group but reps all felt hard. Some of the times were slow despite feeling fast.
Reps were: 2.04, 2.12, 2.02, 2.02, 2.04, 2.07, 2.09, 2.03 Slower than last week.

About 10km in total.

Wednesday 8km 4.35 min/km
Recovery run in the park. Legs felt ok so kept the pace a bit high.

Thursday
3 * 9 minutes.

General aim was to keep it under 4 minute km pace. First rep was a bit off on watch but that was down to hanging back to see which route we were running. Solid stuff over each rep: 4.04 min/km, 3.54min/km, 3.54 min/km.

13km in total

Sunday. 10km 4.49 min/km
Creaky 10 km.

Monday 19.64km (2 hours) hill run
Did most of the runtheline.ie route. Started at Ticknock, over Fairy Castle, Tibradden and into Cruagh and looping back the same way.

Shattered. Lovely crisp run. Going up the bone shaker I realised it was a strava segment after only joining the site this month. No idea why but decided to flog myself up it, looking for a fast climb! Got to the top in bits and had to sit down to recover! 2.5 km done with 17.5km to go. Ridiculous. Wore my road shoes and stuck to the trails which were all dry.

Legs felt ok in the end and enjoyed the run into Cruagh. Coming over Tibradden I was on the look out for water but didn't pass any streams. Didn't bring any and I was parched. Last 5km were uncomfortable given the thirst. Great run overall, easy pace and the climbs felt ok.

60km for the week.

nerraw1111

Step back week co-incided with man flu week so every cloud.
Tuesday core.
Wednesday 8km
Attempted to run off the early symptoms of a head cold. Run was enjoyable, a 3:40km over a strava segment for the craic with the rest easy pace. However, manflu for rest of the week.

Monday 26km 124 mins
Got an Art O'Neill spot so keen to get some long runs in. Felt better so hit the trails of Phoenix park.

Lovely running weather, dry trails and a decent podcast. Kms were ticking by nicely until around 20km when legs got tired. Last 6km were an effort. Longest run since June though. Odd niggle in shin but seems ok. The road section of Art is 30km so probs need a longer run before then!

nerraw1111

Relatively relaxed week. Leg was feeling a bit twingey so didn’t want to chance it with any hard sessions. I did run over 53km in space of four days so not too bad.

Tuesday 8km
Wed 8.4km
Thursday 11km
Sunday 8km

Monday 16.5km 832 metre elevation gain.

Run up around Djouce and Maulin. Beautiful day for it. The ground was mostly dry, weather was mild. Climbing well at the moment. It’s more or less 8km straight up to Djouce from Crone wood, climbing over 550 metres and another 1.7km climb from Dargle river to up Maulin. Great run.

51.9km for the week. Need to step up the distance this week and get some long runs in for Art.

PaulieC

looked like a lovely day from the pics. It's poxy having a job sometimes

nerraw1111

Another decent week, can feel the fitness returning.

Tuesday 10km recovery
Handy run but legs felt a bit tired from the previous day’s 10 mile hill run.

Wednesday 5km fast
Haven’t done any fast sessions in a bit given I’m slowly building up the mileage again so decided to run a fast 5km on the grass. 5 laps or so, with each half lap with/against the wind. Felt great for about 2km and hung on for the remaining 3km. 18.49 garmin time which isn’t bad. Initially disappointed as I flogged myself, but it was on lumpy grass, windy etc so looking back, I’m happy with it. Splits were 3.45, 3.43, 3.43, 3.47, 3.49.

Thursday 16km 4.32 min/km

This was a great run. Legs felt fresh, pace was easy to maintain, a few sub 4.20 kms and finished with a handy 4.16km.

Sunday 18.6km Art O’Neill recce 3 hours, 619 metres of climb.

Met with Dogsly for this to recce the route from Ballynultagh Woods. Went as far to the edge of the forest to where you pick up the fire road to the last checkpoint and then back the way we came.
Meant we could check out two different routes. First route was over the gap and directly down to the river, crossing it at the earliest opportunity and then hitting the edge of the forest. Weather was good if not v windy. Going was ok, very wet in places, took a couple of tumbles from hidden holes. Navigation was easy as we could see where we had to go but we’ll be doing it in the middle of the night in a couple of weeks.
On the return leg, we decided to stay up high on the other side of the river to see if that route was any better. Legs got a bit tired towards the end. Lots of long grass which meant having to lift the legs high. Not an easy thing to do on boggy ground. Great recce. Still undecided on route choice.

Monday 11.5km easy
Uneventful recovery run. Legs felt ok.

63km for the week.